Toilet paper core



Dec. 21, 1965 l.. A. HEINLE TOILET PAPER CORE Filed May 29, 1959 IN VEN TOR. LAWRENCE A. HE/NLE Zq/ Zd A 7` TORNE VS United States Patent O 3,224,700 TQILET PAPER CURIE Lawrence A. Heinle, 17 De Sabia Road, San Mateo, Calif;

Lawrence W. Heinle, executor of said Lawrence A.

Heinle, deceased Filed May 29, 1959, Ser. No. 816,848 The portion of the term of the patent subsequent to .lune 1, 1976, has been dedicated to the Public 6 fClaims. (Cl. 242-5553) This application constitutes a continuation-inpart of my earlier copending application for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No. 271,938, filed February 16, 1952, and issued .lune 2, 1959 as Patent No. 2,889,121, disclaimed in favor of this application on June 12, 1962.

This invention relates to improvements in cores for roles of paper and more particularly, to a tubular core for toilet paper, slotted to provide convenient linger access to an interiorly disposed spindle for facilitating the axial movement and removal of same from support means.

It is common practice to mount rolls of toilet paper upon cylindrically shaped spindles which are provided at either end with support pins for reception within suitable recesses in wall bracket support means. A frequent arrangement is the provision of a fixed pin at one end of the spindle and a spring biased pin movable axially of the spindle at the other. This permits the use of a rigid spindle support with the axially movable pin telescoping into the spindle against the spring bias during installation and removal from the support.

Removal from the xed support requires movement of the spindle axially in the direction of the spring biased pin to effect its retraction and the freeing of the opposite fixed spindle pin to permit the latter to be withdrawn from its mounting recess. This is hard to accomplish in the case of conventional spindle installations wherein the spacing between pin supports and spindle ends is limited to an extent making insertion of the ngers therebetween difficult. The removal is further complicated by the core, which may be substantially coextensive with the spindle, or at least of a length preventing any direct finger gripping ofthe spindle. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a core for a roll of toilet paper which, upon removal of the paper therefrom, permits easy finger access and gripping of the mounting spindle to effect the axial movement thereof necessarily incident to its removal.

A further object of the invention is to provide a toilet paper core of the character described which, in permitting access to the spindle, nevertheless offers an adequately rigid foundation and support for the roll of toilet paper wound thereon.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a core of the character described, which is simple in its design and manufacture and may be used in conventional fashion as a support and dispensing core about which toilet paper may be wound.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the drawing in which:

FIG. l is a view in perspective of the core of this invention, empty of toilet paper, supported upon a spindle installed within wall bracket support means and with a hand shown positioned for removal of the spindle from the support means. The position of the toilet paper when wound upon such core is indicated in phantom outline.

FIG. 2 is a View in section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. l.

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation, partially broken away to illustrate the interior details of the pin means of support for the right hand end of the spindle.

Patented Dec. 21, 1965 ICC FIG. 4 is a view in perspective of the core only.

Referring now to the drawing, the toilet paper core of this invention, generally designated 6, is illustrated in FIG. 1 as carried upon a support spindle 8, in turn supported for rotation in a conventional wall holder or bracket 10. Access to the support spindle 8, as by hand 12, is conveniently provided through core slots 28 exposed by removal of the toilet paper wound thereon, the latter being indicated in phantom in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 3 the conventional support spindle 8 is shown comprised of an elongated cylindrical body 14, at one end of which is fixedly secured a pin or protuberant sup port 16 and at the other end of which a pin 18 is slidably received within an end disposed longitudinally extending recess 2l) provided within body 14. Pin 18 at its inner end is urged outwardly or to the right, as viewed in FIG. 3, by a compression spring 22 bearing at its inner end upon the inner wall of recess 20 and at its outer end upon the left hand end of pin 18. A retaining pin 24 is xedly secured to spindle body 14 extending radially thereof at a location sufliciently close to the reduced central portion 26 of pin 18 to intercept the spindle shoulders bounding either end of said portion 26 thereby to limit the extent of axial travel of pin 18 relative to the body 14 and to prevent pin withdrawal from recess 2t). Support spindle 8, as above described, is typical of those currently in use, being generally made of wood or other suitably inexpensive material, and provided with at least one end-biased pin support to facilitate its removal from a supporting wall bracket 10. Accordingly, no claim is made to the spindle or its holder as such. The salient feature of spindle 8, insofar as this invention is concerned, lies in the requirement of axial movement therefor to eliect disengagement of the spindle from the support bracket. Quite obviously the above described conventional arrangement of a spring-biased reciprocating pin 18 is a simple and cheap manner for spindle support although other means could easily be employed to achieve this end which would as well be compatible with the advantageous use of the core 6 of this invention.

In FIG. 4 core 6 is shown as being of tubular shape and provided with a pair of diammetrically opposed elongated access slots or apertures 28 in its sidewall which extend longitudinally of the core and are provided with rounded ends. Each of these access slots is of sufficient size, approximately one-fourth of the circumference of the core, to permit the easy passage therethrough of a persons fingers, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, and for permitting substantial movement of the lingers axially of the core without interference from the slot-bounding core sidewall for reasons which will become apparent from the operational description to follow. The slots 28 are nevertheless not of sufficient size to impair the structural rigidity of the core and its function of serving as the member about which a roll of toilet paper may be wound and supported for shipment and dispensing when supported upon a spindle such as 8. The core may be comprised of any suitable material, although conventinonally such cores are made of paperboard, which is entirely satisfactory here.

FIG. 3 shows the spindle 8 supported at either end for rotation upon pins 16 and 18 journaled within recesses 30 provided at either side of wall bracket 10. With the toilet paper 32 wound upon core 6, the slots 28 are of course inaccessible, their use not being required in the initial installation of the roll of toilet paper within holder 10. However, upon the full unwinding of the toilet paper 32 from core 6, the slots 28 are exposed, as in FIG. l, to permit finger access to the interiorly disposed support spindle 8.

With the toilet paper 32 completely unwound from the core 6, operation of the invention is effected as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, with the thumb 34 and the index finger 36 of hand 12 respectively passed through opposite slots 28 at points near the left hand ends of same. Thumb 34 and index finger 36 are thereby enabled to grip the opposite sides of the body 14 of spindle 8 and move it to the right, as viewed in FIG. 1, without abutting against the rounded right margins of the slots. As the spindle 8 is thereby moved to the right, the pin 18 is urged to telescope inwardly of the recess 20 against the action of the compression spring 22. The fixed pin 16 is thereby withdrawn from its journaled position within the associated recess 30 of wall holder 10. The spindle 8 is then simply lifted from the holder for removal and discard of the core 6 and replacement by a full roll of toilet paper wound up a similar core.

The advantage of the core 6, slotted as above indicated, over the conventional tubular core with its continuous paperboard sidewall, is readily apparent from an inspection of FIG. 3. Thus, the close spacing of the ends of the support spindle 8 with respect to the adjacent sidewalls of holder 10, as is typically the case, makes difficult, finger insertion therebetween for the purpose of removal of the spindle by effecting the above described axial movement of same. As a consequence nails are broken and fingers are pinched in the process of spindle removal. Further, it is difficult to effect sufficient axial movement of the spindle for its removal from the holder by employing the alternate method of collapsing the core about the spindle, because of the problem of getting sufiicient gripping engagement between the core and the typically slick surfaced spindle.

From the above it may be seen that I have provided a toilet paper core of simple design for use as central support means upon which toilet paper may be wound in a conventional manner and which by provision of access apertures in the core sidewall eliminates the formerly troublesome problem of removing a spindle support from its paper dispensing position within a holder.

What is claimed is:

1. A toilet paper core adapted for use with a support spindle insertable within the core and requiring axial movement for its removal from spindle end support means, said core being of tubular shape and having in its sidewall opposed apertures, each of sufiicient size to permit passage therethrough of fingers for access and gripping of said support spindle after the removal of the toilet paper from the core and the urging of said support spindle axially for removal from said support means.

2. A toilet paper core adapted for use with a support spindle insertable within the core and requiring axial movement for its removal from spindle end support means, said core being in the form of a tube having at least a pair of opposed apertures in its sidewall, each of sufficient size to permit passage therethrough of fingers for access and gripping of said support spindle after the removal of the toilet paper from the core and providing sufficient end clearance to permit movement of the spindle axially of the core during its removal from the support means without interference between the gripping fingers and the core sidewall.

3. A toilet paper core adapted for use with a support spindle insertable within the core and requiring axial movement through an operating distance for its removal from spindle end support means, said core being of tubular shape having diametrically opposed apertures disposed centrally of the length of the core, with the circumferential width of each of said apertures being approximately one-fourth of the circumference of said core thereby permitting passage therethrough of fingers for access to and gripping of said support spindle and the axial length of said apertures being at least as large as said width plus said operating distance.

4. A toilet paper core adapted for use with a support spindle insertable within the core and requiring axial movement for its removal from spindle end support means, said core being of tubular shape having at its center a pair of diametrically opposed elongated apertures extending longitudinally of the core sidewall, which apertures are each of sufficient size to permit passage therethrough of fingers for access and gripping of said support spindle after the removal of the toilet paper from the core and provide sufcient end clearance to permit movement of the spindle axially of the core during its removal from the support means without interference between the gripping fingers and the core sidewall.

5. A toilet paper core adapted for use with a support spindle insertable within the core and requiring axial movement through an operating distance for its removal from spindle end support means, said core being of hollow cylindrical shape having at its center a pair of diametrically opposed elongated apertures extending longitudinally of the core sidewall, which apertures are each of sufficient circumferential width to permit passage therethrough of fingers for access and gripping of said support spindle after the removal of the toilet paper from the core and which apertures are of an axial length at least as large as said width plus said operating distance.

6. In combination, a support spindle having means for expanding and contracting said spindle axially thereof for an operating distance sufficient to permit insertion and removal of said spindle between opposed spindle receiving walls and latching of said spindle in said walls and a tubular toilet paper core mounted on said spindle and having in its side wall opposed apertures the circumferential width of each of said apertures being approximately one-fourth of the circumference of said core thereby permitting passage therethrough of fingers for access to and gripping of said support spindle and the axial length of said apertures being at least as large as said width plus said operating distance.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,207,280 12/1916 Currie 242-552 1,860,058 5/1932 SChWarZkOpf 242-552 X 2,164,817 7/1939 Harvey 242-552 2,232,968 2/1941 Pl'Ce et al. 242-5553 2,500,514 3/1950 BOZO 242-552 2,889,121 6/1959 Helnle.

2,889,122 6/1959 MCCOnl'lell 242-552 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

IOSEPH P. STRIZAK, HARRISON R. MOSELEY,

Examiners.

I. C. GARVIN, JR., Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TOILET PAPER CORE ADAPTED FOR USE WITH A SUPPORT SPINDLE INSERTABLE WITHIN THE CORE AND REQUIRING AXIAL MOVEMENT FOR ITS REMOVAL FROM SPINDLE END SUPPORT MEANS, SAID CORE BEING OF TUBULAR SHAPE AND HAVING IN ITS SIDEWALL OPPOSED APERTURES, EACH OF SUFFICIENT SIZE TO PERMIT PASSAGE THERETHROUGH OF FINGERS FOR ACCESS AND GRIPPING OF SAID SUPPORT SPINDLE AFTER THE REMOVAL OF THE TOILET PAPER FROM THE CORE AND THE URGING OF SAID SUPPORT SPINDLE AXIALLY FOR REMOVAL FROM SAID SUPPORT MEANS. 